Road-ditching machine



May 8A] 923.

PRENDERGAST ROAD DITCHING MACHINE Filed Deo. 5. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet l May s, 1923. l 1,454,336

E. PRENDERGAST ROAD DITCHING MACHINE Filed Dec. 5 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Wag. 6i

iwal/'CZ fore/feier aai.

" 'orney Patented May 8, 1923.

UNITED STATES EDWARD PRENDERGAST, or sT. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

ROAD-DITCI-IING MACHINE.

Application 'mea December 5, 1921. semi N. 519,384.v

T all 'whom t may concer/n.:

Be it known that I, EDWARD PRENDERGAST, a citizen of the United States, and resident of the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements in Road-Ditching Machines, of which the following is a; specification containing a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

yMy invention relates to improvements in road ditches, and has' for its primary object a machine for cutting drainage ditches at the side of the road in which all the dirt cut from the ditch is deposited on the road bed, there to be distributed by the road grader. n

A further object is to construct a road ditcher in which all of the operating parts are adjusted simultaneously so that the properdrainage pitch can be given the ditch.

In the drawingsq Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved ditcher. V

Fig. 2 a top plan view of the same,

Fig. 3 a front elevation.

F ig. 4 a diagrammatic view of the positions ofthe several cutting and scraping blades when in operative position.

Fig. 5 a cross section of the. drainage ditch.

Fig. 6 a longitudinal' section of thesame.

In the construction of my device I employ a pair of wheels 7 which are mounted on a shaft 8. Pivotally mounted on the shaft 8 are side members 9. These side members are pivotall'y mounted on the shaft 8 at their front ends, their rear end being attached to an axle 10 which carries a follower wheel 11. This follower wheel is adapted to ride on the bottom of the ditch when formed, and also assists in supporting the device when being moved from place to place. Secured to the axle 8 is a plow-beam 12. To this beam is attached a plow-share 13. Immediately to the rear of the plow-share 13 and secured to the beam 12 is a sideslope cutter 14. This cutter is adapted to cut the outside slope of the ditch and give it the proper inclination. The end of this inclination being go-verned by the turn buckle 15 which swings the end 14a of the cutting blade 14 to and from the plow. Carried by the beam 12 and to the rear of the blade 14 is a second blade 16. This blade merely acting as a scraper to carry the material cut by the blade 14to the side of the. ditch and feed it tothe side slope cutting blade 17 This blade being mounted immediately in the rear of the blade 16 and being carried by the beam. 12. The angle of inclination at which this blade cuts is controlled by the turn buckle 18 which moves theend 19 of the blade toor from the beam. The blade 17 not only cuts a side slope but carries with it the dirt which has been fed over by the scraper 1 6 and deposits it in the road at the edge of the sideslope cut by the blade 17. To the rear of the blade 17 is a scraper blade 20. This blade carries the dirt which has. been deposited at the side of the drainage ditch and deposits it at a dista-nce beyond the edge of the ditch. (See Fig. 5.) The blade 2O is carried by a slide 2.1 which is mounted in frames 22 carried by the U-'frames 9. vThe slide 21 and beam 12 are connected together by a slotted lever 23 which is pivotally vsecured at its center by means of a shaft 24 to the frames 9. This lever is for the purpose of im-r 8l end wheel 26. The screw 25 being pivotally secured to the beam 12 at the point indicated by the numeral 27. The screw 25 also passes through a nut 28. This nut is provided with trunnions 29 which pass through the U-frames 9. The purpose of pivoting the nut 28 is to prevent the bending or binding of the screw 25 due to the circular movement of the pivot 27 when the beam 12 is raised and lowered. Secured to the aXle 8 is a yoke 30 by means of which the device is attached to any suitabler source of traction power- It will be noted from Fig. 4 that the plowshare 13 first opens a furrow and throws a certain amount of earth on one side of the ditch. This earth being deposited by thev plow-share inthe road. Following the plow-share is the blade 14 which cuts the side slope on the outside of the ditch. This blade carries the removed earth into the ditch already opened by the plow-share 13. rlhis earth then comes in contactwith the scraper blade 16. rEhe purpose of this blade is only to clean out the ditch and feed the earth cut by the blade 1dto the side slope blade 17. rlhe blade 17 then carries the earth delivered by the blade 16 together with the earth which it cuts from the opposite side wall of the ditch into the road bed. This earth is then carried further into the road by means of the scraper '20 which leaves it clear of the ditch and ready` to be taken care of by the road for crowningpurposes, and also deposits it in low places in the road bed.

By the use of my device all of the earth cut from the drainage ditch is deposited in the road be'd where it can be worked up as needed and none deposited on the side of the ditch farthest from the road where it can be washed back and ll up the ditch and interfere with the proper drainage of the road.

l also place a gage 32 on the machine. to indicate the depth at which the plow 13 is cutting; the ditch. The essential feature, however, being to deliver all of the earth Cut to the road side of the ditcher for filling purposes, and also crowning the road.

Having fully described my invention, what l claim is:

1. A road ditcher comprising a frame, wheels for supporting said frame, a plow beam pivotally secured to said frame, a plow carried by said plow beam, side wall cut ters carried by said plow beam, a scraping blade carried', by said plow beam, a scraper carried by said frame, means for raising and lowering the plow beam to adjust the depth of cut, a connection between the plow beam and the scraper carried by the frame for operating said scraper in a direction opposite to the movement of the plow beam, and a for indicating the depth cut by the plow.

2. A road ditcher comprising` a wheeled frame, a plow beam pivotally mounted in said frame, means carried by the frame for raising and lowering said plow beam, a plow carried by said plow beam, adjustable side wall cutters carried by said plow beam, a scraping blade carried by said plow beam, an adjustable scraper carried by said frame, a connection between the plow beam and adjustable scraper, whereby said plow beam and -scraper are moved in opposite directions simultaneously, and a for indicating the depth cut by the plow.

3. .il road ditcher comprising' a wheeled frame, a plow beam secured in said frame and adapted to be raised and lowered, a plow, a side slope cutter carried by said plow beam, and mounted to the rear of said plow, said cutter adapted to feed the earth cut into the furrow opened by the plow, a scraper secured to said plow beam and adapted to Contact with the bottom of the furrow, said scraper adapted to feed the earth toward the opposite wall of the furrow, a second side slope cutter carried by the plow beam mounted to the rear of said scraper, said side slope cutter adapted to cut the opposite wall and simultaneously feed the earth so cut and the earth delivered by the scraper 'to the road, a scraper carried by the frame for delivering the earth carried up by the side slope cutter away from the edge of the ditch.y and a gage for indicating the depth cut by the plow.

ai. The road ditcher of claim 1 in which thc side slope cutters are adjustable to and from the center of the machine for varying the inclination of the side slope.

5. The road ditcher of claim 3 in which the side slope cutters are adjustable to and from the center of the machine for varying the inclination of 'the side slope.

ln testimony thereof, l have signed my name to this specification.

EITWARD PRENDERGArT. 

